Tag: voice

California Considers a Digital Replica Law for the Dead

Joining the frenzy of states trying to address concerns over artificial intelligence (AI) and particularly concerns expressed by the recording industry, Assembly Member Rebecca Bauer-Kahan introduced a right of publicity bill in the California legislature, AB 1836, that would add a digital replica provision to California's postmortem right of publicity statute, Cal. Civ. Code §...

Tennessee Governor Signs ELVIS Act, Greatly Expanding State’s Publicity Statute

Yesterday, Governor Bill Lee signed into law the ELVIS Act which replaces the prior right of publicity statute in Tennessee.  It goes into effect on July 1st. I analyzed the new law in detail earlier this week. The law uncontroversially adds voice to the enumerated protections but also greatly expands the scope of liability and...

Tennessee Legislature Sends Right of Publicity Bill to Governor’s Desk

Tennessee’s right of publicity law has long been driven by the ghost of Elvis, and is now likely to replace its current statute with the almost inevitable passage of the appropriately titled ELVIS Act (the Ensuring Likeness, Voice, and Image Security Act of 2024) (HB 2091/SB 2096). Last week the bill was sent to the...

House Subcommittee Sends Follow-Up Questions After AI Hearing

After the February 2nd House hearing about AI and how best to address unauthorized use of a person's voice and likeness at the federal level, two members of the House Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet sent me (Prof. Rothman) additional written questions to answer for the record. Representative Issa's questions focused on...

Usher Sues Sony for Right of Publicity Violation for Use of Voice

No, not that Usher. Jasmine Usher, a Georgia-based singer, is suing Sony Music and the band Travis Porter for the use of her voice on the hit song “Ayye Ladies”. The song reached number sixteen on the Billboard Top 200. Usher claims that her voice was recorded and used on the song without her signing...